Air drier



Dec. 4, 1951 J, H. ANDERSON 2,577,176

l AIR DRIER Filed Dec. 16, 1947 F 25 20 i 26 INVENToR JAMES H. ANDERSON.

HIS ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITED 7 s 'rares reir ctrl-csf AIR Darlin James H. Anderson, Easton, Pa., assignor to Ingersoll-.Rand .Company,'New York, N. Y., .a corporation'of New Jerseyr l Application December 16, 1947, 'Serial N o. 792,065

This inventionrelates to a dryer ldevice', and

more `particularlyto -a compressed air dryer..

.Driers of this type are used to remove moisture from compressed airbei-ore its use ina'ir tools andair operated gauges vvto avoid the undesirable ei'ects 'of condensation in vsuch instruments.' Also, moisture is-removed vfrom compressed `air to prevent the formation vof condensate any cooled portion -of the air` supply line leadingv to theY instruments which `would require that the line be drained periodically.

Existingvair driers arenormally comprised of Another object is to regain a part of the pressure iloss normally incurred by the pressure iiuid inthe `drying process. `AA`A -further' object is to restore apart of the perature loss normally incurred by thepressure fluid 'during'the drying process.

Other 'objects'V will beV in part obvious and ir part pointed out hereinafter.

AIn theA drawings accompanying this speciiicz-r.- tion'and in which similar 4reference numerals refer to lsimilar parts, Figure 1 is an outside view, in elevation, of the air dryer constructed in accordance with the practice of the invention and adapted to a iiuid brake, d v` v Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in section, of Figure l,

Figure 3 is a transverse view taken through .Figure 2 on the line 3-3,

Figure 4 is a transverse view taken through Figure 3 on the line 4 4, and

Figure 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of the` dryer adapted to a centrifugal blower.

Referring to thedrawings and more particularly to Figure vl and its associated views,4 i!) designates, in general, a compressed air dryer comprising e. regenerative heat exchanger il mounted on an expansion engine, in this instance a turbine I2, which is supported by a uid brake housing I3. l

@2 claims- (cm2-137i Y .inthe present form L2 of ythe invention, the heat exchanger I i is :show-n encased 'by insulating' material If and "has a supply conduit I5 lfor 'con veying pressure n-uid to a nozzle It `of the expansion turbine I2. vThe nozzle It mounted in the customary lmanner `with respect to a "horizontally positioned v'wheel l? in the turbine housing iii so that pressure fiuid expanding through the nozzle will be directed against turbine blades "I9 to rotate the wheel H. In 'this manner, that portion of the pressure energy of the fluid 'that' is converted to 'kinetic energy is dissipated by doing -mechanical Work, thereby `preventing the rehea'ting of the fluid by such kinetic yenergyi it 'were 'dissipated by friction.

` Within the brake housing i3 Vis a vfan 2i! which' is j'secured toa vertical `turbine vshaft '2| mounted onn'bearings 22. The ian A2! 'is partially iromersed in oil or asimilar fluid which is supplied,

" thereto'through a 'hole 2,3 inthe `housing I3 and serves-to retard VtheY rotary motion of vthe vfan 2li thereby affording -resistance vto .rotation ci the turbine 4'wheel il'. In order `to further re`.V

tard the" rotary motion of the fan 2i), `the 'base' 24 forv the Y'housing' I3, has a horizontal lannular recess or groove 25 therein having plates 26 Athat extend' radially inward from the outer edge of the groove `thereby forming a Stationary fan viscous drag exists in the oil therebetween, and also so that the oil is agitated 'in the groove .25.

rlhe'oil thus agitated forms amist or vapor which rises or is Yforced upwardly by the `rotation of therany and serves to lubricate the bearings 22. A seal 2l encircling the upper end of the shaft 2l prevents leakage of oil into the turbine l2 and a removable plug 28 in the hole 23 prevents leakage of the oil from the lower portion of the housing.

In the present instance, the turbine and fluid brake are designed so that the turbine blade velocity is approximately one half the velocity of the pressure uid as it leaves the nozzle IS. This means, of course, that the pressure uid will leave the blades i9 with a tangential component of velocity sulcient to allow the pressure uid to move clear of the blades I9.

from. Disposed on the side of the Wheel opposite the nozzle I6 is one end of a discharge conduit 29 and the other end portion thereof loosely encircles the supply conduit I5 to dene a flow path therebetween. This regenerate arrangement permits expanded fluid issuing from the turbine blades to be conveyed to the exterior of the supply conduit I5 thereby bringing such fluid into a heat exchanging relationship' therewith for initially cooling pressure uid flowing to the nozzle. In the lower or turbine end portion of the discharge conduit 29 means are provided for the removal of condensate from the compressed air flowing through the conduit 29. For the sake of simplicity of illustration this means is shown as being a sharp turn or U 30 in the discharge conduit whereby the condensate is ejected from the pressure uid flowing therearound. A hole 3I in the lower portion of the conduit serves to drain condensate therefrom.

In the modified form of the invention which is shown in Figure 4, the air dryer is identical in construction to the aforedescribed dryer except thatv the turbine drives a pump o1" centrifugal blower 32. In this form of the invention, a conduit 33 serves as a means to convey warmed pressure iiuid from the exterior of the supply conduit to the blower 32 wherein a portion of the expansion energy of the pressure fluid transmitted to the turbine is regained. Also the blower,'1ike the uid brake, serves as a means driven by the expansion engine I2 to dissipate the output or energy thereof.

y It is now obvious to those skilled in the art that this regenerative arrangement for the heat exchanger II, interconnected with the turbine I2, presents a great advantage in that the stable or operating temperature of the cooling medium, before contact with the supply conduit I5, is dependent on the construction of the dryer. That is, a temperature dierential exists between vthe compressed air in the supply and discharge conduits I5 and 29 due to the temperature decrease bine, and the amount of heat transfer surface inv the heat exchanger.

There is also an added advantage in the use ofv f the regenerative heat exchanger in that a portion.. of the temperature loss incurred by the com- 4 pressed air during the drying process is restored in the heat exchanger. The degree of rise in temperature of the compressed air cooling medium in the exchanger is, of course, dependent on the design of the heat exchanger, which in this instance, for the purpose of illustration, was shown in a simple form.

While I have shown and described one form of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appende'd claims.

I'claim:

1. In a pressure fluid dryer, an expansion tur- `bine, a supply conduit for conveying pressure fluid to the turbine, a discharge conduit for the tur- .bine to convey all fluid expanded therein to the exterior of the supply conduit, means in the discharge conduit for ejecting condensate from pressure fluid flowing therethrough, means for draining condensate from the discharge conduit, a centrifugal blower actuated by the turbine, and means for conveying all pressure fluid from the exterior of the supply conduit to the blower.

2. In a pressure fluid dryer a rotary compressor, a turbine mounted on said compressor for driving the compressor, a conduit for supplying pressure iiuid to drive the turbine, a heat exchanger mounted on the turbine and encir, cling said conduit, a discharge conduit for conveying all the uid discharge from the turbine to said heat exchanger, said discharge conduit having a sharp turn therein for separating mois-A ture from iiuid owing therearound, and a drain located at said turn for draining liquid from said discharge conduit, and means for conducting.

uid from the heat exchanger to said compressor.

JAMES H. ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record .inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Date". 

